Friday, 30 September 2016

Uber Capitalist Death Trade is Cabbage's second EP, following on from last year's debut Chou. Currently confounding audiences across the land opening up for Blossoms, it confirms their status as one of the most exciting and strangest bands out there.

Thursday, 29 September 2016

Taking a break from the recording sessions for their new album, Nick, Christian and Mike from The Leisure Society have taken off around the country on a week-long acoustic tour as a trio to recap highlights of their first four albums as well as to reveal intimate versions of songs from their next one. Support on the tour comes from Bea Sanjust, whose Larosa album is one of our favourites of the year, who met the band years ago in Brighton as they were starting off as part of the infamous Wilkommen Collective.

October 28 sees the release of LIINES new double A-side single Disappear / Be Here on download and white 7" vinyl. Both songs have already been aired by John Kennedy on his XPosure show on X Radio and we've chosen Be Here, one of our long-standing favourites from their thrilling live sets as our Track Of The Day.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016

Premiered by John Kennedy as his Hot One on his XPosure show on X Radio last night, we're proud to present the online exclusive of Hey Bulldog's new single Divide And Conquer which is set for release this Friday.

Monday, 26 September 2016

It's ten months since we last saw Déjà Vega play and they've got almost a brand new set of songs to blow us away with since then, of which new single Friends In High Places is just an entry point to their dark, loud, relentless and uncompromising sound.

Friday, 23 September 2016

The Lucid Dream's third album Compulsion Songs has them out in territory all of their own, pushing back boundaries of their own sound and exploring new avenues. It's a natural darker progression from their self-titled second album and will delight those that have followed them from the start and draw in and snare the curious.

Feed The Kid release their new single In The City today and play an instore at Pretty Green as well as The Brit Project this Saturday. We caught up with them for a chat about the single, its follow-up and their plans for the rest of the year.

Monday, 19 September 2016

The third and final day of Ramsbottom Festival saw us experience the full diversity of the musical offering that the festival puts on across the event with a mix of styles and genres that have something for everyone. The evening's topped off by one of the greatest festival performances I've ever seen by Ist Ist on the By The River stage.

Sunday, 18 September 2016

The final date of the festival season and James headline the inaugural On Roundhay. They deliver a set heavy on hits and Girl At The End Of The World, a perfect mix for the casuals and the die-hard fans. Also on the bill were Primal Scream and Wolf Alice.

Saturday, 17 September 2016

It's that time of year again when we head for the hills and the picturesque surroundings of Ramsbottom for one of the few remaining unspoiled festivals on the circuit. Day One of the festival for us capture further evidence of The Slow Readers Club remarkable rise from the Northern Quarter venue circuit to turning away people at the door wherever they go as well as Glass Caves, Larkins, Lake Komo and LIINES.

Friday, 16 September 2016

Manchester singer-songwriter James Holt and his band take to the Smaller Rooms Stage at Ramsbottom Festival at 2.35pm on Saturday. We had a chat with him about his Sanguine On The Rocks EP, his recent charity single Butterfly and plans for the future.

Thursday, 15 September 2016

It's been quite a year so far for The Slow Readers Club. Hand-picked to support James on their massive Girl At The End Of The World tour, well-received and packed out festival performances at Kendal Calling and Victorious, a first sold-out trip to Ireland and on the brink of selling out their biggest headline show to date at The Ritz in Manchester, the year keeps on getting better. We met up with Aaron and Kurt from the band to talk about their crazy year and their upcoming headline slot at Ramsbottom Festival.

Braving the Manchester storm we made it down to Gullivers on Tuesday night to catch Scarlet, a band we'd followed since the start of 2015 but hadn't yet had chance to catch live as they prepare for the release of their debut album Effigy next month. Support came from The Orchid Hunters.

Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Twin Atlantic played a short five-song set at Manchester HMV on Monday evening to support the release of their new album GLA. Rather than strip things down as most bands do for these shows, everything's turned up to the limits of the in-store PA and take down the fence between audience and band to make it a far more up close and personal experience.

Jordan Allen and his band have enjoyed a massive surge in popularity in 2016, topped off by a performance on BBC's Introducing stage at both Reading and Leeds festivals. They've just released a new single Dancing In The Dark and are playing Ramsbottom Festival on Sunday. We caught up with Jordan to find out more about the crazy year he's had to date.

Tuesday, 13 September 2016

After sold-out shows in the last year at Manchester's Night And Day and Soup Kitchen and nationwide dates under their belts, LIINES recently signed a management deal with Reckless Yes and have announced the release of a new single Disappear / Be Here for October. We caught up with lead singer Zoe ahead of their performance at Ramsbottom Festival on Friday to find out more.

Monday, 12 September 2016

The Wedding Present's latest album Going Going is a concept album, a soundtrack to an imaginary film that's packaged with the record. To celebrate they're in the middle of an intimate tour of theatre venues to perform the entirety of it set to a visual backdrop of the film. To that end we found ourselves in the splendid surroundings of the Quays Theatre at the back of Salford Lowry to witness a very untraditional Wedding Present gig.

Skies are an exciting duo from Folkestone that with just a couple of single releases to their name have already gathered serious interest through BBC Introducing and have been invited to perform at Ramsbottom Festival on Sunday. We had a chat with Alie and Jericho to find out more about them.

Sunday, 11 September 2016

Lunar's first headline gig for five months saw them pack out The Ruby Lounge on Saturday night with an equally energetic supporting cast of The Hotspur Press and King Kartel, leaving a hot, sweaty and battered and bruised moshpit in their wake.

Made Here was the first (and possibly only) event of its kind to be held in the grounds of the Old Fire Station in Manchester before it's redeveloped into a luxury hotel concept and restauarants. A line-up of artists and street food vendors complemented the main attraction, a music stage in the stunning courtyard that provided free live performances from some of the city's best-loved under the radar acts. We caught the last three of them - Liam Frost, a rare acoustic set from The Slow Readers Club and Feed The Kid.

Thursday, 8 September 2016

Ahead of the release of their tenth album Here this week, Teenage Fanclub have been treading the boards of venues a little smaller than they can comfortably fill to reveal the album to a dedicated fan base in the furnace-like crammed-in space of Gorilla in Manchester. Support came from The Wirral's By The Sea.

Monday, 5 September 2016

Ten years on from the release of their debut album, Liam Frost And The Slowdown Family reformed for one last hurrah to celebrate the anniversary. Two shows at Manchester's Deaf Institute sold out in a matter of hours when announced and the sense of anticipation in the room was palpable as the city came out to pay respect to one of its finest musicians and best kept secrets.

Friday, 2 September 2016

To coincide with the release of their new single Velvet, Glossop's Larkins played their biggest headline show yet at Manchester's Club Academy supported by Leeds' Victors and Manchester's own Young Monarch. A packed crowd watched Larkins impressively deliver a set rich in variety, power and crowd involvement and lay down a marker for the future.